Well at least he can restrain himself from saying "eh?" Your parents must be prood of yeeh... ..

I've always just put the last little bit of my tires on with the tire lever.
Am I screwing up my rim/tire by doing that?

as people said before, tire bead jacks are thumbsavers. these are great too, if you can find them: crank bro's speed lever. same principle as tire bead jacks. clip one end on to the axle and run the lever across the rim. double sided tool so that it both mounts and removes tires very quickly.

Hey! TT is back!

ya folding gatorskins are a *****, esp when theyre all freshly folded and ur tryna put them on a rim; i always get frustrated and end up using tire levers to slip the last part of the bead on

ha wow, didnt know b-iatch was censored..

changing 700-28 randonneur..............

I got the Crank Bros. Speed Lever and still had trouble with a pair of Michelin Pro 3's. I think I'll order the Kool Stop Tire Jack. It's cheap enough and could come in handy.

I'd paypal anyone $6 with video proof on how to get the last bit of the tire on with no tools, levers, jacks...

Folded gatorskins 700x23

I got my first set of wheels built up a few months back, was all full of grins, then tried to install my Kenda Kalientes on them. I lost exactly 40 layers of skin, and most of the bones in both of my thumbs. I'm pretty sure a few more hairs stopped growing on my head, too. Worst tire-rim experience of my life!

Since them, I bought some Maxxis Re-fuse tires, and they go on a lot easier. I emailed Sun-Ringle about their rims to ask why the tires were so damn hard to install, and the guy who wrote back said he's had lots of issues with Kendas and a few other brands (in my email, I had never mentioned I was installing Kendas, so he wasn't just b.s.ing me).

I have a Crank Bros. Speedlever and I love it. I highly recommend buying a couple, so you have one in your home shop and another to take along on rides.

I use the Speed Lever at home, but I feel it's too flimsy to take along on a ride. If the thing breaks, you're up the creek. On rides, I take along only regular tire levers. I've been riding with Specialized Pro Mondos and they are easy to get on and off my Shimano wheels.

I agree, it can feel flimsy. I've never had one break on me, but my multi-tool has end-caps that double as tire levers if I ever need them.

a little lube around the rim and tire bead seems to help a bit. give that a shot... does lube count as a tool?

otherwise, just muscle it...

Only for a folding gatorskin? What about a wire bead one? I want six bucks!

I also want my six bucks too...
No soap or lube either, just use your palm and roll it up.
Although easier said than done, but it's really not that hard.

I've never used my palms, only my thumbs. Never had too much trouble. Folding tires aren't hard because they hurt my thumbs, but because they're just too floppy/have too little shape when they're new out of the box.

Also I really need that six bucks... I took my girlfriend out for a fancy dinner tonight at The Boiler House. Total damage, nearly $200. D'oh! And that was just for dinner.

prostitution...

I don't use tire jacks anymore, I found some cool tutorials on youtube showing how to change tires by hand, it involves pulling the tires around the rims so that they will just slip over.

Although some tires are a tighter fit than others, Maxxis Hookworms are pretty damned tough to get on, but still with good technique you won't need any other tools than your fingers

I don't know if I just suck at changing tires, but conti ultra race is super difficult every time I change tires.

links of said youtube tutorials please I like skin on my thumbs!

I don't think it hurts the rim or the tire in any way. You just risk pinching or tearing the tube with the lever when you do it, but as long as you're careful, you should be alright. This is what I do when installing my tires, and so far it's worked fine.

One tip:

This also seems obvious, but...

With Beaded tires, make sure you do one bead at a time and don't let it cross the rim (some done on one side, some done on the other).

Makes it much easier.

I can put my 700x23's on with just my thumbs pretty easy.

I can take them off with my hands, but I usually use a tire lever, it's quicker.